163 - A CARVED IMPERIAL DUANSTONE ‘DRAGONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE GUANDONG PROVINCE, 1740-1820

A CARVED IMPERIAL DUANSTONE ‘DRAGONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE GUANDONG PROVINCE, 1740-1820 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of compressed pear shape tapering to a cylindrical neck, with a flat lip and recessed, flat oval foot surrounded by a protruding, flattened, oval foot rim, carved on one side with a four-clawed dragon amidst clouds, spewing forth a stream of vapour enclosing a pearl, with a bat flying in the foreground, the other side with a circular panel containing the character long (‘dragon’) made up of three formalized kui dragons, the narrow sides with mask and ring handles Height: 5.7cm Provenance: Drouot, Paris, 24 April, 1983 lot 187 The Guo’an Collection, (Anne Kreuger) no. 366, label to the neck Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, The Guo’an Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles, 30th October 2000, lot 726 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 7th November 2001, (a copy of the original invoice available) This distinctive stone, used extensively for ink-stones, was mined at Duan in Guangdong province, not far from Guangzhou (Canton). It has been used for ink-stone production since the Song dynasty. The style of dragons on this group of bottles, of which there is a series made, suggests that they may have been carved at Guangzhou for the Court. Many of them bear a well-known encomium about the material by the emperor. For a discussion and other examples of the group, see J & J no. 84, and Treasury 3, nos. 393 and 394, the latter including the encomium. There are also glass equivalents of the dragon-character design, which appear to have been carved at Beijing based on the same design concept Ω This Lot was imported from outside of the UK, under the Temporary Admission regime 5% import VAT will be charged on the ‘hammer” and 20% VAT will be charged on the ‘buyer’s premium